U.S. Stone Imports 2004: Factor of Two

With cut/slab marble – again, the biggest part of the stone’s import market – Italy also dominated the sector with 64,003 metric tons arriving in U.S. ports in 2004. It also marked the end of a two-year slump in the volume of Italian marble brought into this country, topping the 61,115 metric tons imported in 2001.

Other countries didn’t come close to Italy’s cut/slab marble tonnage last year – Spain ranked second at 27,499 metric tons – but Spanish and Chinese importers made significant gains from 2003. Spain’s total for 2004 is an 85.6-percent increase in that country’s cut/slab marble shipments to the United States from the previous year, and China’s 21,367 metric tons last year is a 77.2-percent hike from 2003.
 
TRAVERTINE POWER

Turkey’s 12,864 metric tons of marble arriving in the United States last year might cause some consternation in Istanbul as a figure that’s far too low. It’s a matter of semantics; while the Turkish stone industry uses marble as a term when speaking about marble and travertine, U.S. Customs Bureau figures allow for cut/slab travertine to be separated from the mix.

It also focuses the spotlight on Turkey’s astonishing power in U.S. imports of travertine. In 1996, Turkey shipped $2.8 million of the stone to this country; last year, the value of Turkish travertine coming to the United States totaled $207.1 million, or 57.5 percent of the stone’s import market. Mexico’s $77.7 million made up 21.6 percent, and Italy posted the only other double-digit share at 12.1 percent with $43.6 million.

Turkey’s dominance grows larger when considering import volume; the 424,983 metric tons sent to the United States last year made up 68.7 percent of all cut/slab travertine imports. Mexico’s 83,522 metric tons accounted for another 13.5 percent, and Italy’s 9.1 percent of the total came with 56,590 metric tons.

Not only is Turkey’s share of the market growing annually; it also seems to be increasing its growth rate every year. In 2003, for example, its U.S.-bound travertine tonnage increased by 36.6 percent from 2002. Last year, the 424,983 metric tons in travertine arriving at U.S. ports represented a 42.2-percent jump from 2003 levels.
 
OTHER STONES

The major increases in granite and travertine not only outshine marble, but the “other” dimensional stones as well – the “other calcareous” (such as limestone and alabaster), and the catch-all “other” (encompassing sandstone and everything else, save for slate). While not growing at the high rate of the leading stones, imports for both of these sectors also went up in 2004.

The total import value of other calcareous stone for 2004 finished at $238.6 million, a six-percent increase from the previous year. Spain topped the list of importing countries, but just barely; its $58.47 million in import value last year edged perennial leader Italy’s $58.43 million. China continued its steady climb with imports of $21.6 million, taking third place away from France; the $17.8 million in French imports marked another step in a downward trend from the country’s $24.1 million in 2000.